The Government of Rwanda has banned skin whiteners and other bleaching cream in the country and has given directives to officials across the country to enforce the ban.
A spokesperson for the Rwanda Standard Board said: “It is been implemented by the Ministry of Health and the Rwanda Food and Drug Authority and the Rwanda Standards Board,” said Simeon Kwizera, the public relations and communications officer for the board. Operations are being conducted by technical people. The police is there to oversee only and make sure that all operations are being conducted in a safe way”.
President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, had said in a post on twitter last year November that the country was reining in on bleaching creams “very quickly”
Government officials and police are now believed to be patrolling markets in the capital, Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, seizing skin-lightening and bleaching products from vendors.